An informative, educational blog - illustrated themes for beginning and advanced postcard collectors to learn more about antique and vintage postcards, including postcard artists, publishers, and design styles. Helpful information on how to build a quality collection. Useful links. Questions welcomed!

We are always buying collections of postcards and photographs from before 1950 - email us at circa1910@tampabay.rr.com if you have a collection to sell!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Whitney HALLOWEEN Postcards

Whitney published postcards, as I have mentioned in a previous post, seem to suffer from being too new, too simple or just too sweet. For whatever reason, they are priced lower than other antique postcards. Some of the Valentine, Christmas and Easter images are certainly less imaginative and elaborate than the works of other publishers, often lacking embossing. And those Whitney holiday postcards frequently feature cute children, with the emphasis on cute.

While collectors who treasure fine artwork may focus on postcards published by Paul Finkenrath Berlin, Meissner & Buch, Faulkner, Winsch and other publishers, I urge you to examine Whitney postcards more closely and evaluate whether there is a place for some of them in your collection. In this post, we look at some Whitney Halloween postcards, all of which are embossed. Above is an image of the Whitney little pumpkin heads bobbing for apples in a night scene lit by a big yellow moon. A black Halloween cat arches its back - probably scared of children with jack o' lantern heads.

Here is one of my favorite Halloween images from Whitney,

with a cheery child in a jack o' lantern clown costume, standing between two tall metallic gold candleholders, an art deco design with bright colors and shining gold details.

A wonderful series of owls and cats communing in the woods offers huge yellow moons surrounded by shining golden spatter. Here is one of this series, where the two well-known Halloween icons appear to be comparing claws. The blue sky and misty leaves make a fine contrast with the other colors that light up this design.

The impish rascal on the right plays in a soft blue evening sky with a big pale moon, shining gold stars and white fireworks above dark trees and a house, outlined with shining gold lines. This design includes nearly day-glo colors on the imp, with turquoise skin and brilliant orange cap and shoes. Is this a true Halloween design? We choose to put it in our Halloween collection, based on its greeting: Stay at home though the moon shines bright, for Elves are floating around in its light.

Below is another charming pumpkin head design, with the black cats feeling much more playful in this scene. The lettering is in gold and it says, The blackest cats that ever were seen wish you good luck this Halloween. Looks as though one pumpkin head has carved a pumpkin head for the cats. One cat is already sporting his costume, and another is about to be slipped into his feline pumpkin head. I don't know any cats that would tolerate this sort of hilarity, but this is a fantasy postcard after all.

We close with an example of an unusual fun series from Whitney that pairs the usual black cats and pumpkins with an unexpected group of dressed mice, all celebrating together like Halloween holiday pals.

Price Guide: Whitney Halloween postcards are rapidly increasing in price. We paid $18 and up for the ones shown in this post, but they have about doubled in price since then. You may still be able to get some bargains in the $20 - $30 range. On eBay, you can put in a Search for Whitney Halloween if you are interested in being alerted when new listings appear.

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Collecting Tips

To begin or upgrade your collection, take advantage of these learning opportunities.

1) Build a collection of postcard books & guides. When you can recognize an artist's work or identify a specific style or publisher, you can shop for the postcards you want more efficiently.

2) Browse the online sites often to learn the current prices of items you want. You can compare sites to find the best price and you'll know when to bid/buy and when to just watch. Buy low works with building a postcard collection just as it does with building a stock portfolio.

3) Attend your local postcard club meetings; go to as many postcard shows as you can. You'll see postcards you haven't seen anywhere else, find some good items to add to your collection, perhaps bring home a bargain and meet some friendly deltiologists!

How to Use Online Sites to Build a Collection

You can build a valuable collection through online sites if you know how to shop and bid wisely.

1) You can use Favorite Searches on eBay to keep informed about the postcards you want as they are listed. For instance, if you're in the market for WWII battleships, or Ellen Clapsaddle holiday images, have emails sent to you whenever a new item in the category becomes available. You can refine your search, of course.

For your Ellen Clapsaddle search, you may wish to refine to Clapsaddle (Easter, Christmas, children) (IAP, International Art Publishing) on eBay. Review other sites' search guidelines to make the most of this option. Clapsaddle's designs from IAP are embossed, whereas her designs from Wolf Publishers are flat. Choices, choices!

2) Use a SOLD search to see what postcards have already sold for on eBay. This will help you learn what prices you can expect to pay for the cards you want.

3) Before bidding, search the other listings for the same postcard. It may be possible to find another auction listing the identical postcard which will go for a lower bid. I once wanted a card that had just gone for a bid over $80. Within a week, I bought it on another seller's auction for under $30.

4) Search the online stores to find the range of prices being asked for a card that interests you. Be sure to check the listings and examine each postcard carefully - mint condition comes at a price. However, if you are collecting as an investment, buying top quality at the lowest possible price is your goal. Be aware that tears, holes, and surface loss dramatically reduce the value of any postcard, but especially holidays. Some store sellers consistently list high, others consistently list at more reasonable prices.